DONCASTER ROVERS: Triple blow for Rovers
Ruled out: Martin Woods will miss the Oldham trip due to a thigh injury. picture: andrew roe
DONCASTER Rovers boss Dean Saunders will be without at least three of the team which started in Tuesday’s League One 1-0 win over Oldham in tomorrrow’s FA Cup second round tie against the Latics at Boundary Park.
David Cotterill, who scored the winner, and in-form striker Iain Hume, are both suspended after picking up bookings in the hard-fought victory.
Midfielder Martin Woods, who will be out for several weeks after picking up a thigh injury during the second half, will join the pair on the sidelines.
Fellow midfielder James Harper (tight thigh) also faces a late fitness test today, as does striker Billy Paynter, who missed the game with a tight hamstring. Both men were rated 50-50 by Saunders yesterday afternoon.
Kyle Bennett is still a week or so away but defender Andy Griffin (hamstring) could come into contention for a place on the bench.
Although Saunders was giving little away as to his likely starting line-up, he could be forced to switch left-back James Husband to left-midfield and move Tommy Spurr across the back-four.
David Syers would look the most likely player to take over from Cotterill on the right, even though the former Bradford City man admits that it is not his best position.
Looking ahead to the game, Saunders told The Star: “Oldham came here on Tuesday and didn’t let us have it our way and they turned it into a battle. They stopped us playing and we stopped them.
“But our quality shone through in the second half and in addition to David Cotterill’s 46th minute goal we also have two or three other good chances.
“I always knew that we’d get chances in the second half; it was just a case of whether we could take them.
“They’ll be looking to try and get their own back on us and it will be another tough game because Oldham play in the same way that their manager used to do when he played.”
Despite the fact that Rovers will be lacking key players, Saunders claims he won’t be setting his standards any lower.
“We’ll be going there looking to win; you only go looking for a draw when you’ve lost your last three games,” he said.
“Because we got through everything with them the players know why have been getting results and they know that it is not just a case of turning up and expecting to roll sides over. They know the little things which we are doing in games, which people don’t always notice, which are getting us results. I think it will be another battle but I think it will probably be a better game to watch.”
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Weather for Doncaster
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: West
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
